Chandigarh, April 2 The Punjab Police announced on Thursday that it had busted an interstate illegal arms supply network with the arrest of four men.
Ten sophisticated self-loading firearms were also recovered in Patiala, according to Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav.
The arrested individuals have been identified as Saurabh Kumar, a resident of Jarang Deeh village in Bihar's Muzaffarpur, Sajan, a resident of Sohana in Punjab's SAS Nagar, Abhishek alias Kaka, a resident of Gurdeep Colony Ablowal in Patiala, and Inderjit Singh alias Rohit, a resident of Old Bishan Nagar in Patiala.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the accused were sourcing locally made weapons from Bihar and supplying them in Punjab for criminal activities.
Further investigation has also indicated a gang rivalry, with plans to target a rival criminal linked to the Goldy Dhillon network to establish dominance in the area, the DGP said.
He said further investigation is underway to establish the connections between the individuals involved in the network to dismantle it entirely.
Sharing operational details, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Patiala, Varun Sharma said police teams had received information that Kumar, a resident of Bihar, was supplying locally made self-loading pistols to notorious criminals at the direction of their handlers based abroad, in order to commit targeted killings and other heinous crimes in the state.
Under the supervision of Superintendent of Police (Investigation), Patiala, Gurbans Singh Bains and Deputy Superintendent of Police Harman Cheema, the teams laid a trap and arrested the four men involved in the smuggling of firearms, the SSP said.
He further said that Kumar was arranging weapons from illegally set up arms-manufacturing units in Muzaffarpur to supply them in Punjab, using various modes of transportation.
During initial interrogation, it was also found that Abhishek was in contact with notorious gangster Goldy Dhillon via social media platforms and was actively involved in a gang war, he said.